Specialist advice – essential to farm resilience planning

It has never been more important for farmers and land managers to have a clear understanding of the strength and resilience of their business in the face of future change or market uncertainty.

The Scottish Government is encouraging business owners and land managers to take advantage of the funding support available to them via the Farm Advisory Service (FAS), to commission an expert review of their business strengths and weaknesses and develop a resilience action plan to safeguard future operations.

Support available:

• Up to £1,000 available to fund a business specialist advice* report
• No requirement for a prior ILMP
• Funding available until 31 March 2020

The adviser will work with the participating business to establish key performance indicators for financial resilience, analyse enterprise exposure, assess profitability and cash flow and review the balance sheet. In consultation with the business owner/representative, the adviser will identify appropriate resilience measures and actions that can be taken and develop a practical implementation plan for the business.

Businesses can apply online at here.

Submissions will be accepted from the 30 September 2019 until 31 March 2020.

Prior to application opening, any businesses interested in applying are encouraged to register their interest by calling our helpline on 0300 323 0161 or emailing advice@fas.scot, to receive an application pack at the commencement of the application window.

*Excluding VAT, (the business must pay the full VAT) except for businesses that are not registered for VAT and will not reclaim the VAT from HM Customs & Excise, in which case the grant will be based on the total cost including VAT.